Resources by Catalyst

Birth of an Orchid

This Catalyst article looks at orchids, their breeding, and why they have great commercial value. The family of Orchidaceae is one of the largest plant families, with about 900 genera and 25,000 species. Orchids are amongst the oldest flowering plants. After a long evolution, they have developed a very intimate...

Blocking Viruses with Synthetic Receptors

This Catalyst article explains how chemists build molecular 'traps' to mimic the surface of a cell. To scientists, sugar is much more than a food; sugar molecules can also form polymers which act as ‘molecular bar codes’ to help cells recognise each other. The article describes how chemists made a synthetic...

Blood Pressure *suitable for home teaching*

A Catalyst article about fainting and how it can be the result of a sudden drop in blood pressure, which is often part of a shock reaction. Maintaining blood pressure is an important part of keeping the human body in balance. This article examines hypertension, living with high blood pressure, and the relationship...

Body Sensor Networks

A Catalyst article about the use of tiny electronic sensors to monitor the movement of people. As electronic devices get smaller and more powerful, they are finding new uses in monitoring human activity. This article describes a project to develop sensors with uses in medicine, sport and electronic gaming.

...

Brighton Goes Solar

Brighton Energy Co-op recently installed Brighton’s second-largest solar system on the roof of Shed 3a at Shoreham Port. Since May 2013, 800 panels have covered the two sides of this 3000 m2 roof: half face east, the other half west.

The article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2014, Volume 25,...

Bringing a Mummy to Life

A Catalyst article about a temple singer who was preserved as a mummy over 2000 years ago in Egypt. She now lies inside a coffin in a museum in Manchester. Thanks to developments in medical science, researchers are revealing the secrets of her life and piecing together the diseases she suffered from by using X-rays...

Bringing wastelands to life

This articles article looks at the work of astrobiologists, and how the study of extremophiles on Earth can help us to understand how we might colonise another planet in space exploration. ...

Buckytubes

A Catalyst article about buckytubes, a type of carbon nanoparticle.The allotropes of carbon —diamond, graphite and buckminsterfullerene (bucky balls) — are well known. Now scientists are working on buckytubes. These are based on elongated tubes formed from sheets of hexagonally-linked carbon atoms, capped at both...

Building a White Water Canoe Course

This Catalyst article explores the processes undertaken during the construction of a white water canoe course for the Olympic Games which requires a huge range of practical skills, but also great science skills too. The scientist must calculate how much noise from both the course's construction and its use during...

Can we save our horse chestnut trees?

This article investigates the reasons behind extensive early browning of the horse chestnut trees.

This article is from Catalyst: Secondary Science Review 2016, Volume 26, Issue 3.